reviews: industrial

A little more then a year ago Genetic Selection released it debut record on Ant-Zen. That record was a hard hitting four-to-the-floor industrial techno release with a space age theme. Darwin’s Voyage is the sequel and not much has changed.

Prurient is the noise project of Dominik Furnow. In fact, as far as noise acts go, Prurient is about as intense as it gets. Upon first listen, what strikes first about this album is the severity of Prurient’s sound.

Fire in the Head is the power electronics project of Michael Page. In addition to ‘power electronics’ other labels might be used here as well such as ‘death industrial’, ‘power noise’, or maybe even ‘death drone’.

Dark, dark, dark, Deadwood is pure darkness. The Swedes certainly do seem to have a knack for such darkness, which is just fine by these standards!

This harsh rhythmic noise act needs no introduction. Since ten years Synapscape produces industrial techno with pounding distorted beats.

It’s reissue time. Another rare industrial classic has been retrieved from the archives. This cd by Gerechtigkeits Liga, the first release for the new label Isegrimm Records, contains material from the period 1984/1985.

‘Master Control’ was first released as a tape way back in 1988 (how old were you then?) It has now (2005) been re-released by the Stockholm, Sweden label Segerhuva.

This album contains recordings created in 1984, but I doubt if many people will have the original release, since it was released on a cassette named "Dolbied" in an edition of 50. Back then, the for me totally obscure Belgian group Vortex Campaign invited two now legendary acts to collaborate on a split release: Coil […]

Like some other industrial acts Iszoloscope has two faces: a dark ambient one and a rhythmic industrial one. This new album combines the two sides of the project.

A nice gem for noise fetishists. Two noisy tracks on a limited piece of vinyl.

‘A composition in eleven parts’ with the first track being an exercise in reverberation. Yes, lots of reverb effects and electronic moderation imposed upon a slow pounding beat…

Let’s start with the understatement that this is not an album to play if you want to get in a good mood. Because the sounds that Stalaggh offer us are really nightmarish.

Hands Productions has done it again. With S.K.E.T. they have embraced a band that produces some more of the rhythmical noise that Hands Productions is known for. A magic blend of electro sounds, industrial, noise with vocal samples and kicking beats. At some points the music becomes a little repetitive. The S.K.E.T. members come from Rostock, Germany. They started making music in 1994…

When you think of power electronics you think of over the top noise and raw vocals. Fin de Siècle Media is maybe not a true power electronics label but their releases are very powerful electronic music productions. Des Esseintes (the project by the label boss) might be called a power electronics act, although his compositions are more intelligent and complex then most music in this genre…

The titles of the songs on this split single as well as the photos inside the foldout sleeve (black masks, T-shirts with ‘HATE’) betray that we are dealing with militant industrial here. Two noisy acts collaborate in their battle against “everyday indolence and mass mentality”. This split single contains two names I was not yet familiar with…

‘Comrades in lost’ is a multimedia (!) compilation aiming to introduce people to the Latvian industrial community. A community I’d never heard from before, but definitely worth checking out more thoroughly after this splendid introduction…

My initial reaction to receiving this cd by American noise act was a happy one; finally I was able to listen to some brutal noise again, without having to pick a cd out randomly from the pile of releases in this genre. The logo, artwork, and website look serious and the slogan says it all: Nihilism, noise, narcissism…

IRM is one of these almost founding acts of the Cold Meat Industry label. Being there from the start, it is not often that Martin Bladh en Erik Jarl come together to produce new work. In fact it has been five years since “Oedipus Dethroned”, their last album. The music on this cd is more intimate and darker then on their former releases, less noisy…

Babyflesh is the only Norwegian death-industrial act, at least according to it’s label Vendlus. And I have to admit, I can’t come up with any other act, so it might actually be true. Even though there are a lot of death-industrial acts from Scandinavia, Babyflesh may very well be the first from Norway. New wave of cynicism is the second release by Babyflesh…

The first album from Simon Schall, a new electro-industrial project from Vienna, is certainly entertaining, though the opening piece ‘Die Spielerei’ is a bit boring. The tracks on this album are rather simple and monotonous, but quite effective and danceable at times. I can imagine that the industrial dancefloors are not safe when you play ‘Der Tod’…